Under the Senbonzakura tree
by yUkIn0
Summary: Do you know about the rumor? On the day of the graduation ceremony, if a couple confesses under the Senbonzakura tree they will be bound together, forever." A story of a normal boy's journey to meeting his destined partner with a few twists & turns.IxR


**A/N: I do not own Bleach, only I wish I did! Then the pairings would have been set a LONG time ago! So without further ado:**

--OOoOO--

_"Do you know about the rumor?_

_On the day of the graduation ceremony,_

_If a couple would confess under the Senbonzakura tree_

_They will be bound together,_

**_forever._**_"_

--OOoOO--

_"I hate this city. It's full of memories that I want to forget. A city full of faces that I've come to recognize, day by day as I pass by._

_Go to school everyday, chat with 'friends' then go back home, even if I don't want to. The same routine that I do each day, without fail. Will something eventually change, doing this? Will that day come?" _I thought to myself as I walked slowly on my way to school. I paused for a little while, watching the cherry blossom leaves dance along with the wind. It was spring of my junior year of high school at Karakura high, and yet, after all these years of yearning for a change, I found myself at the brink of giving up.

I started to walk again, slowly towards the uphill climb, surrounded by the cherry blossom trees. My eyes closed as I navigated my way to school, a thing that I usually do as I've already familiarized myself to my surroundings. That was... until I heard a loud, stern, yet soft voice that was only a few feet away from where I was. I opened my eyes slowly and there, I saw a raven-headed girl, probably in middle school since she was -short-. She had an angry expression, plastered on her face. Her amethyst eyes flaring. Her eyes seemed so rare, so entrancing, although who am I to say that hers was rare when my hair is -different-.

I stared at her, unknowingly, as I found myself drawn to her. She was wearing a one-piece, light lavender dress that ended at least three inches down to her knees. She was wearing a summer dress, with flower petals as her printed design, together with a thin white sweater. I have to say that she looked adorable-- uh?! I shrugged the thought off my head. A delinquent like me can NEVER, I repeat, **_never _**compliment, ANYBODY! And _**nobody**_, was an exception.

Then, that is when I noticed that her finger was pointing at three guys, and another guy was lying down on the ground, his face met ground. I glanced at the tree again, they probably in their early twenties, judging from their ugly faces, aside from their tacky style of clothing. They stand as if they were a part of a gang or something, and had that yakuza glare at her. I also noticed that there were three scratched, overly used skateboards on the ground, and the bottle of the withered lily, which was an offering to a girl who recently died, was knocked over, broken into pieces of shards.

"The hell you kickin' my handsome face fo'?! HMM?!" one of the guys mocked, spitting on the ground near the girl's feet. He had a hand over his left cheek, I could see that almost half of his left cheek was in a deep shade of red. His clothes had dirt. I figured what happened already, the fact that those three losers would dare to knock down an offering like that, having no respect for the dead, I would also get pissed. My brows furrowed deeper, I noticed the my fist clenched under my pockets, and that I glared daggers at them.

"You pitiful scums," the girl muttered loud enough with an angry voice as she let her arm drop then started walking away from them. I gotta admit, she sounded tough despite petite her size. Again with the compliment, but for now, I'll let that one slide. Strange enough, they still hadn't noticed my presence, despite of how tall I am for my age, yet I didn't mind. I glanced at her, walking towards the shards, slowly crouching down, letting her dress get dirt as she started picking them up slowly and carefully, piece by piece. She mumbled the words, "Sorry... flowers... next time..." I figured that she made a promise with the girl's soul.

"Nasty bitch...!" a gruff voice said and as soon as I looked over the men, I noticed that one of them had a clenched fist, charging over to her. My eyes grew wide, as if everything was going on slow motion.

As soon as I blinked, my body had moved by itself, racing with the guy to her and as if by reflex, my body blocked her tiny figure from him, and kicked him square in the face. He fell slowly to the ground, I realized that he was the guy on the ground before.

My hands were still in my pockets, I looked so cocky and I loved the feeling. I stole a glance from the girl, who now stood beside me, her hands on her hips and her eyes glaring at them again, the same glare as I had before. "I can take care of myself..." she whimpered, directing the words to me. I shrugged in response. She was the stuborn type.

"This is bad," one of the guys said in a panic whisper.

I then stomped on the guy on the ground repeatedly, until his face fit perfectly to the hole on the ground that he ("I") made. I smirked at "his" work of art, but that wasn't the only reason why I smiled. I took another glance at the girl behind me, I noticed that she stood there, amazed at my strength, or more likely, her eyes were watching me. I don't know why but her amethyst eyes sent gave me a weird, yet soothing feeling, and I liked it.

I then averted my full attention to the other three who stood with trembling knees. _This is goin' to be fun. _"Question 1: What the hell is that?" I asked in a sarcastic tone, "Yes, you in the middle!" I yelled to the guy in the middle, his face immediately paled. He then looked to both of his friends then pointed a finger to himself, as if confirming it.

"Uh... uhmm," his eyebrow twitched, his whole body shaking, "a tribute to a kid who recently died here...?" _Bingo._

"ABSOLUTE RIGHT!" I said in a loud voice, earning gasps from my audience as I kicked him up in the chin. His torso bent all the way to the ground, his head landing fisrt. "Next question," My eyes turned to the two who remained, "why would that bottle be broken into pieces?" I asked sarcastically, again.

"Uhm... that-- would be... skateboardin'...?" one of them said in a cowardly voice.

"THAT'S RIGHT YAH BASTARDS!" I yelled, double- kicking them on their chests, and I watched until both fell on the cold ground. "Dare to do that again and I'll make it so that people will also have to lay flowers for all of you too!" I threatened with fire burning in my eyes, giving them my deadliest death glare. It's my signature.

"GYAA!!" The two screamed as they got up and joined hands, their faces touching as they started to run away, fast! "Were so sorry!!" They yelled as they ran, asif their life was depended on it, well in a way, it was. They even left the other two behind, probably 'cause I scared the crap outta them! Serves those idiots right, I thought as my glare turned into a huge, wide grin.

"If I scared them that badly, they probably won't be back here any time soon." I said out loud, reassuring the girl behind me.

"You ok?" I heard the stern yet soft voice again; it was definitely her. I don't know why but the way she asked it made my heart skip a bit, like it made me smile. I felt so gay at the moment, but of course, _I _would never admit such a thing to anybody, especially her.

I looked back, this time my hands were inside my pocket again, and I had redeemed my usual scowl. I didn't want her to see the stupid grin on my face now did I? "Yea, don't wor-"

"I'm sorry but was I talking to you?" I blinked twice, I cannot believe she just cut me off! Interrupted _me_?! Did she not know who she's talking to? Was she not aware of the whole thing that just happened? The mere fact that I actually blocked her sorry ass from that **loser's **attack? That I gave them the punishment that they deserve, in her honor?! My scowl deepened as I thought of more questions.

I looked away since seeing her look at me so innocently made me even more pissed. The fact that she was still crouching onto the ground, gathering the pieces that were left, was an obvious sign that she was definitely talking to the soul. Though, I still didn't know which ticked me off more, me being totally ignored, or looking stupid in front of another person. Or maybe not getting the "Thank you" that I truly deserve. I felt so stupid, and it ticked me off. Bad.

"You brat! You don't even know how to thank a person who saved your sorry lil' ass?!" I blurted out, annoyed. My eyes now set on her figure. I saw her hand twitch as she picked the last piece; I kept scowling--as usual-- as I watched her slowly stand up, holding a white handkerchief with a black butterfly imprinted on it. Her eyes then met mine as she turned, her expression--**priceless! **

She had two veins popping out of the side of her forehead, you could tell she's so pissed! I don't know why but I felt so successful to see her like that. "I do not _recall _ever asking for help. Therefore, why should _I,_thank _you?_" Wrong move you tiny brat.

"It's common sense to thank someone for rescuing you, you **midget!**" If only I knew how a big a mistake it would be to call her "that" even worse was that I put an emphasis on it too. I should have known that that girl kicked real hard, and good. Because trust me, she got me! She kicked my shin real hard, as soon as I said it, that I had to bend down to massage it, I even muttered an "OW!" Who would have known that such a mi- I mean a girl could be so evil.

"First of all, it's called _manners_! Brush up on your Japanese, boy," she said as she got out a permanent marker out of her purse, which i didn't even notice until now, and--

"HEY! Wha-"

"Secondly, ever call me "THAT" again and I'll make sure your punishment will be a lot worse." she threatened, drawing fake mustaches on either side of my cheeks. It's not that I let her do it! It just, that I couldn't move! That's all there is to it.

"You lit-"

"It's not you, it's Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia." she said with a gentle smile as she stood up, looking at me with those mesmerizing eyes again. "Remember that name." she continued, walking down the uphill climb, the opposite direction from where I was supposed to be heading.

I quickly stood up, brushing the non-existent dusts on my uniform. I realized that I was already late as is, so I yelled out: "hey!" towards her direction. I waited as she turned her head, her innocent, wide eyes met my amber ones. "It's Kurosaki Ichigo! And no, it doesn't mean strawberry!" I hollered to her, with that smile on my face, I hate to admit it but the little argument with her made my day a little better than what I'd expected it to be.

She smiled at me and then walked on. Her free hand waving back at me. I watched her until she was no longer in sight, and at that time, I wondered, just when.

_When will I see you again? Rukia?_

--OOoOO--

A/N: Okay, I know the chapter's kinda long! Sorry for that but I just wanted my readers :YOU: to see my "potential"--if I have any! Anyways, here is my fanfiction:

**Under the Senbonzakura tree**

It will be kinda long. I based it on the Love Bleach dating sim game that does not actually exist! It was just a "fake" ad. Anyway, the story's mainly about the high school days of Ichigo but with more twists and turns than just any high school days of a normal boy! Yay!

**PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW! THANK YOU SO MUCH! :) **


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